Tom Hardy's Feminine Lawless Character

Tom Hardy was fascinated by the ''female'' side of his 'Lawless' character and admits he signed up for the role because of his alter-ego's ''caring'' nature.

Tom Hardy was fascinated by the ''female'' side of his 'Lawless' character.

The actor plays bare-knuckle boxing bootlegger Forrest Bondurant in the forthcoming movie - which also stars Shia LaBeouf, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman - and though he admits he has to depict some ''horrific'' behaviours, he signed on for the role because of Forrest's ''caring'' nature.

He explained: ''He does some pretty horrific things. From cutting people's testicles off to using knuckledusters. And yet this is a man who also mothers two boys, his brothers. He has to feed them, look after them, he doesn't drink. He's a carer.

''He's a specific type of man. What interested me was the female role in this guy. And what the nature of violence is to men. Non-egotistical violence, non-macho violence. Violence from within the cardigan.''

Tom has grown a beard for the movie, and while he isn't bothered about his New Look, he admits it does have some drawbacks.

He added to Esquire magazine: ''I have to grow a beard for the character. It's really ginger and wild. But I don't give a f**k about it, personally.